Nicholas Morton: “The Mongol Storm: Making and Breaking Empires in the Medieval Near East,” London, 2022.

Nicholas Morton is a Senior Lecturer at Nottingham Tent University. The author mainly focuses on the history of the Crusades as well as the Medieval Near East between the 10th and14th centuries. His other areas of study include the Military Orders such as the Templars, Hospitallers, and Teutonic Knights, the history of Near Eastern and Central Asian societies, cross-cultural and interfaith relations, and Military History. He combines these interests in his new book, “The Mongol Storm: Making and Breaking Empires in the Medieval Near East.”

This book focuses not, as the title would suggest, on the Mongol Empire itself but on the many different cultures, religions, and empires of the Near East and their reactions to the oncoming Mongol Storm. The book is divided into twelve rather short sections, which highlight the various aspects of the invasion from different geographical, political, religious, and cultural viewpoints.

To vividly show the entanglements and relations between all the distinct groups living in the region, as well as their soon-to-be Mongol overlords, the book often backtracks quite a bit chronologically to highlight each aspect. The first chapter, named “Rumors,” describes how the cultures in the Near East are reacting to the whispers of war in the East (pp.17-42). It also provides a detailed analysis of the ongoing conflicts in the region before the Persians first encounter the Mongol army.

The second chapter describes the aftermath of the said first contact and the “Hiatus” which followed (pp. 43-68). It depicts the infighting of the local powers in constant fear of an impending Mongol invasion. The third and fourth chapters, “Invasion” and “Displaced People,” describe the invasion and its aftermath in detail. Comprehensive analyses of the composition of the Mongol army, as well as their foes, are linked with cultural aspects such as food, architecture, and gender (pp. 69-108).

Chapters five to seven concern themselves with the new reality in the region. A new superpower has risen and is met with local infighting between crusader states, the Ayyubid Empire, as well as the soon-to-be-rising Mamelukes (pp.109-190). Another focus is the inner workings and administrative struggles of the now gigantic Mongol Empire and its newly subjugated regions. The differences between agricultural and nomadic societies within a now multicultural and religiously diverse imperium are a main topic of discussion throughout.

In chapters eight and nine, “Intermediaries” and “Stabilization,” Morton focuses on the infighting of the Mongol Empire and the creation of the Golden Horde and the Ilkhanate (pp. 191-232). It also highlights the diplomatic avenues subjugated empires like the Byzantine and the Seljuks could take to gain favor with their new masters. The author further explores the responses of the Mamluks to the outbreak of civil war between the different Mongol factions.

The last three chapters, “Trade Routes and the Balance of Power,” “Challengers,” and “Stagnation,” firstly shift the focus to the economic evolution of the 13th century in the face of Mongol conquest. Then a detailed analysis of the ongoing wars of the 1270s and 1280s follows (pp. 233-300). The last chapter describes the efforts of the Byzantine Empire to hold the ever-stronger growing Turkmen at bay.

The summary, “The New World Order,” as Morton calls it, closes the book and describes Near Eastern societies with a now “much broader understanding of the wider world.”

The book does an excellent job of describing the Crusades and other ongoing conflicts of the Medieval Near East in the context of the Mongol invasion. Morton paints a colorful picture of diverse cultures interacting with one another in the face of a largely superior force. This viewpoint provides a broader context for the local conflicts of the time and is interesting reading for everyone interested in the Crusades, the Ayyubid Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Seljuks, and the Mongols themselves, as well as anyone interested in interfaith and cross-cultural relations.